Kentucky has made more NCAA Tournament
appearances and won more NCAA Tournament games than any school. The Wildcats
are also defending national champions.

Northwestern has never played in the
NCAA Tournament.

Saturday in Lexington Baylor stunned
Kentucky, 64-55. The loss ended the school's 55-game home-court winning streak
and eventually led to the Wildcats slipping out of the top 25. The schedule
dictated a visit from Northwestern Tuesday night.

In college basketball, it doesn't matter
who you play, a sub-par effort against a good team often creates an adverse
result. The Wildcats (7-2) further embellished the Big Ten Conference's
reputation with a 74-70 victory over the Bears (5-3).

That pit was 18 points with just over 11
minutes remaining. A furious rally teased the home folks but never had the ball
with the chance to tie. After an A.J. Walton steal and pass, Gary Franklin
missed a point-blank layup with 39 seconds remaining that could have made it
70-67.

"Huge," Drew said. "When you have to
come back like that, every shot, every possession is crucial."

Sophomore guard Dave Sobolewski, one of
five Northwestern starters to score in double figures, made a 3-pointer from
the corner to give the Wildcats a 35-32 halftime lead. The momentum carried
into the second half and turned into a 16-1 run.

"Hitting that shot at the buzzer and the
first six, seven minutes of the second half we built up a good lead,"
Northwestern coach Bill Carmody said. "We were fortunate to do that because
they came back like gang busters."

Baylor missed 11 of its first 13 shots
to start the second half and struggled at the free throw line after
intermission, missing nine attempts - misses that loomed large as the Bears
tried to rally.

"They wanted it more than we did," said
Baylor senior point guard Pierre Jackson, who had a team-high 18 points but
missed seven of eight 3-point attempts.

"We didn't play with the same intensity
that we finished the game with," Baylor's A.J. Walton said. "The last 10 or 15
minutes we got after it and got on a run. We made some mental mistakes and got
caught on some back doors. No excuses for it. I lead on the defensive end and I
wasn't there tonight."

Northwestern was successful scoring
inside and rebounding. 11 of the Wildcats' 25 field goals were layups, dunks or
follow shots. They also had a 37-24 rebounding edge. Baylor also was
out-rebounded by 10 at Kentucky.

"No way we should get out-rebounded,
period," Walton said.

"That was really important to get some
stuff done inside," Northwestern coach Bill Carmody said. "We never have a
rebounding edge. I was happy we beat 'em on the boards."

During the first two months of the
college basketball season, when over 350 Division I teams mix and match in
non-conference games, anything can happen. The same day Baylor defeated
Kentucky, Northwestern lost at home to Illinois-Chicago.

"I never know what to expect," Carmody
said. "We've got seven freshmen and two transfers. Tonight was so different
than three days ago."

The last time the Bears played in the
Ferrell Center, they lost to College of Charleston, which played at home and
lost to No. 5 Louisville, 80-38.

"Everything is challenging nowadays,"
Drew said. "Look at the parity, across the board there are so many quality
teams."